In this luxurious opportunity of a debate with the best devient.genie, I will be arguing that God is the equivalent of Pepsi, the best soda in the world, and Con will argue that atheism is like sierra mist. Sierra mist is the least celebrated pepsi-cola brand soda.

Atheism, unlike religions and cults, atheism is Not a belief system, it is a conclusion one arrives at because of logic, reason and critical thinking :)

Lets explain. Atheism is a word for non belief in a god.

Now, non belief in leprechauns has no word, have you ever heard of an A-leprechaunist?

Non belief in horoscopes does not have a word, have you heard of an A-astrologist?

Non belief in unicorns does not have a word, have you heard of an A-unicornist?

However non belief in a god has atheism.

Now you and I can agree that there is no way to prove leprechauns, unicorns or horoscopes, there is also no way to disprove them, same goes with a god.

However, the only one of the examples that has a word for non belief, is the non belief in a god.

Logic, reason and critical thinking lead you to the conclusion that leprechauns, unicorns and horoscopes are a statistical improbability, even though you cannot prove or disprove them, you arrive at the conclusion of their non existence, thru logic, reason and critical thinking, but you dont get a label for non belief in them.

Just because logic, reason and critical thinking lead someone to the conclusion that its a statistical improbability the reason for the universe was created by a being that organized a virgin human sacrifice or one that flew on a horse to heaven (muslim) earns them the label atheist, means nothing.

So again, atheism is simply a conclusion one arrives at, not a belief system.

When god is blessing us, do you know if he is going to get around to birth defects. I hate to sound like a Debbie Downer, but the Autism is getting a little out of hand, and I think we're up to over 4,000 birth defects.

Dont get me wrong about gods gifts, obviously being allergic to water, is the Best Gift Ever, however, too much of a good thing isnt always good, even when they are gifts :)

Imagine debating flat vs sphere thousands of years ago, just because flat earthers were in larger numbers, means nothing.

Same today, religious people are todays flat earthers, the end result is the same, ignorance is still more prevalent than intelligence.

Fortunately, big picture, religious ignorance is a temporary problem for Mankind, however, a permanent problem for those alive today :)

Religious poison is no joke, its so powerful because it fits perfectly into our own instinctual desires. The poison is so infectious, it makes Cancer look like a riot.

If you answer yes or maybe to the following question, you are infected. The severity of the infection is in direct correlation to how much strength and emphasis you place on your answer.

Do you believe there is a better than average probability that the reason you are experiencing this thing called life, is because the reason for everything uses human sacrifice to show love and forgiveness or is in any way concerned with what good humans do naked?

Yes, means varying levels of delusion.

Maybe, means varying levels of confusion.

Saying Yeah right, more like statistical improbability, closer to Leprechauns at the end of rainbows guarding pots of gold, means you are free of the poison, the invisible chains of the fictional slave master are not present, the heavy weight of sexual guilt has been gone since the day you freed your mind, you have a spring in your step, that inspires you to be a good human because you want too, Not because you are going to get a prize when you die.

To all "Yeah right" answers, our peers may not be as numerous today as we would like, and even though our largest numbers are among those with a higher education, thats ok, somebody has to be the pioneers, Congratulations Good Guys :)

My opponent has provided a thoughtful counter to this debate: however he fails to recognize one thing and fails to address another thing.

His failed recognition includes the seriousness of the debate. In by that I mean, it is not serious in the least bit. Perhaps I should have said that in round one, however, if I did, my opponent would have not accepted this debate because of his instinctive behavior to hop on whatever train he can to disrespect those with different views than him. Also, I figured a child could realize this was a not so serious debate due to the title of it.

My respectful and mature opponent has also failed to address how religion is not like pepsi from his perspective and how atheism is not like sierra mist, thus rendering his first argument null and invalid. I will go on to state my views on this.

We all know Peps-cola is a wonderful soda. Invented in 1893, just seven years after its rival coke, it has shown and proved time and time again that it has a bolder taste to it than its rival's coke less sweeter and provocative taste. I compare this to the almighty God who has an infinite knowledge and supreme character thus making it equivalent to pepsi in many ways as regards to taste. Pepsi's colors are red white and blue, resembling America, the greatest nation on Earth, and also comparing it to God, the greatest being in the universe and all of existence. This is my simple compare and contrast statement on pepsi, and will counter if my opponent so willingly states an acceptable response.

To me, Sierra Mist is just another lemon-lime soda as is Sprite, 7up, Sun Drop, and Mountain Dew. Although I don't find this one as desirable and explorative as the other three examples. I compare this to atheism with due respect (as I have nothing against atheism, it is a very valid set of views). Sierra Mist came into existence in 1999. That was just fourteen years ago. This is comparable to atheism as its prominence came thousands of years after religion did, thus making the time span here much more proportionate. Because Sierra Mist doesn't really have much originality, I can compare this to atheism in a way in which people don't believe in any higher power (Pepsi is definitely a higher power, yum!). Sierra Mist was just another soda that the world has seen. This is my respectful response. I hope to clarify things more and give my opponent a rebuttal provided he actually follows the topic of debate.

There is no debate. You labeling it a debate means nothing to me. Its like labeling a banana an apple :)

muslims can argue for their god as strongly and with as much of a lack of evidence as any other religion. Its not difficult, either all religions are right, all are wrong , or the most arrogant answer only 'MINE' (MINE IS DIRECTED TO THOSE WHO EMBRACE A SKY DADDY TALE) is right :)

Widdle kids will whine "Well science cant answer questions like "What is our purpose as humans on Earth?", that is correct, and Wal-Mart cannot answer those questions for you either, so go pout and stomp your feet that nobody will answer your questions and nobody will help you go potty and wipe your butt for you. Put on your big kid pants and figure out your own purpose and legacy :)

You are a 21st century human just like me, why did I see the ridiculous nature of religion as a child, yet you and countless billions of other humans suckle from the tit of religion?

I was raised with two loving parents who never divorced, I have 3 brothers and nobody was abused, I grew up religious, yet I decided to question things and you decided to take the intellectually lazy route and say "god did it"

There is no historical proof of jesus resurrection. There is no evidence to validate any religious tripe, yet countless humans intellectually tap out and remain mentally bankrupt :)

The reason that I unleash ridicule and contempt on religion, is because like the aryan nation, its what religion deserves.

The sheer divisiveness and destructive nature of religion is so apparent, it seems one must try to ignore it, and that is disgusting.

There are 1.6 million homeless children in the USA. ABC news reported in Jan 2013 that 20-40% of them are LGBT who were kicked out of the home by inept piles of DNA who were ashamed of their creation :)

This pathetic result of religious poison is nothing short of despicable.

If humans need an outdated, unproven and ridiculous book to gain morality, they are nothing short of a ball and chain dragging mankind down as we strive to advance to a higher standard :)

There are countless millions of intellectuals, scientists, and other enlightened humans who, although not as politically incorrect and brash as me, agree that religion is a poison :)

Your incessant whining is not a deterrent, your uncomfortable responses make it clear deep down you know as a 21st century human a man never lived in a whale :)

Whine about my political incorrectness, and brash approach all you want, you support the single most divisive and destructive invention in the history of mankind, and you should be ashamed of your inability to question such childish, wicked and immoral teachings as those written about in the holy binky, the adult pacifier that stops man from asking questions, and satisfies him with allegories, parables, metaphors, and ultimately weak excuses for the beautiful and magnificent nature of our universe and life :)

There is no polite way to tell someone they have dedicated their life to a folly--Daniel Dennett

I dont want to JUST believe, I want to know. Since nobody knows everything, and its impossible to know everything, I can only go on probability. Science and I have that in common, we like to think in probabilities based on logic, reason critical thinking, and our secret weapon, EVIDENCE :)

Nothing is absolute, however, some things are more probable than others.

Its more probable that the magnificent and beautiful universe is Not under the watchful eye of a celestial dictator that made an appearance in the middle east to let people know they shouldnt work on a certain day or it's a death sentence (exodus 35:2)

The same skepticism that killed Santa, is the same skepticism that kills unicorns, leprechauns, the boogeyman, the easter bunny, and tooth fairy, and when you have the courage to turn that skepticism up a notch, the intellectual honesty it bears, will slay all god stories as well

god is Not an explanation, its a placeholder for those who lack the courage or intellectual honesty to SIMPLY say, "I dont know"

The lack of courage and intellectual honesty to simply say "I dont know", is Not a weakness we are born with, its injected into the mind by religion, and for that lethal injection into a childs mind, I will forever despise the poison called religion.

Well considering my opponent has in no way given a correct response as to what the debate is about, I will extend all of my arguments. My opponent has gone off on a pointless rant that equals that of a child and has ignored the entire topic of debate. Vote pro.

Of course my opponent would choose to find childishness in my response, childishness is consistent with the title of what he incorrectly believes is a debate :)

If pro receives more votes, the heartbreak felt on my end will be the equivalent to the heartbreak Stephen King would feel if one of his books received less votes than the Teletubbies among 3-4 yr olds :)

Now lets get to some big kids stuff :)

Since 1982, between 40% and 50% of adults in the United States say they hold the creationist view that "god created humans in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years" when Gallup asked for their views on the origin and development of human beings. As of 2012, the percentage of believers decreases as the level of education increases. Only 25% of respondents with postgraduate degrees believed compared with 52% of those with a high school education or less. A 2011 Gallup survey reports that 30% of U.S. adults interpret the bible literally :)

Such despicable statistics are only possible because of the ignorance religion imposes on the human intellect :)

Dont like to "think" too hard? Thats ok, Intellectual laziness has a "cheat code", god. When you enter this cheat code you will be unable to say "I dont know" to the following questions, why are we here? What happens when I die?

Emotional frailty? Easily feared into things? Dont worry your little head about it, theres a cheat code for that, god. When you enter this cheat code, your frail emotions wil feel empowered by the idea of a totalitarian authority taking care of and watching over us 24 hrs a day. This cheat code should Not be used by someone who is emotionally frail, and ignorance personified. If youre extreme in dealing with emotional frailty, and your level of ignorance is extreme as well, that level of ignorance coupled with your knowledge of a sky daddy, you will believe that talking to yourself and calling it praying actually helped you find your car keys :)

Fear of death? Fear of the unknown? You guessed it, theres a cheat cod for that, god. When your thoughts get to death, or the unknown, whether young or old, the best answer for scary questions, the most soothing pacifier, is the holy binky. The adult pacifer known as the holy binky will take that unknown fear away, and replace it with fear for him :)

How can I be a bigot? How can I discriminate and hold prejudices that are divisive enough to deny a child equal rights? Thats easy, use the right cheat code. When entering the cheat code, god, you can instantly turn yourself into a prejudice holding, discriminating bigot, voting booths are where you will shine using this cheat code. The desire to vote against the equal marriage rights of children born differently is enhanced dramamtically entering the cheat code, god :)

I Do NOT incriminate religion or science until I investigate. god stories only died in my life when I started to investigate.

Religion stops the majority of people from investigating first before incriminating science.

I did not incriminate the idea of a biblical god, until I had investigated both the bible and the scientific evidence, and came to my understanding by determining which is more probable of an answer to these questions:

Why are humans here? Why are we the only species that can build buildings and fly planes? How did the universe we live in come to be in existence?

Answers:

1) Nobody knows with absolute certainty the reason for everything. Lets keep asking questions, and see what evidence we find and how this evidence affects each question I ask and conclude which answers are more probable based on the evidence.

2) The reason for everything is a supernatural being that made an appearance in the middle east and organized a human sacrifice to forgive mankind. That is Not a probability, that is an absolute guarantee.

#1 or #2, which is probably the best answer to teach to children?

I say number one, and religion says number 2

Why is it all the major divisive and destructive habits in societies stem from those who answer number 2 :)

Denying equal rights in marriage, caused by number 2 folks, denying women the right to choose their healthcare, denied by those who answered number 2, lying to children and convincing them that evolution is a lie, you guessed it, number 2's in power manipulating the minds of children and adults alike :)

The evils done in the name of religion will only win, when the good do nothing :)

Clasping your hands in prayer and does nothing. 2 hands working get more done than 2,000 clasp in prayer :)

Number 2 answering folk will tell the number 1's "You better love jesus or you could get a spanking when you die. And if you thought disrespecting the son was a crime, dont even think about denying the holy spirit, you are the holy spirits (b)(i)(t)(c)(h)" :)

matthew12:31-
31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Wow, that sounds so exciting :)

That holy spirit is an unforgiving mother f'er, and that jesus is an intolerant (b)(a)(s)(t)(a)(r)(d) towards whatever he decides is a "sin" :)

jesus and his "my way or the highway" attitude, yields two results: Some feel the the fear and agree to his way, and some have the courage of taking the highway

Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long---Tom Cochrane :)

Religious logic: The story of noahs ark is harmless to children.

No, the greatest act of genocide in the history of the planet is Not a good childrens story, even if it is fiction. Penthouse Letters has fiction, youre child doesnt need that either :)

Religious logic: Believing in creationism is harmless.

Yeah, until you have religious groups knocking on public school doors wanting to teach that scientific evidence of evolution is a lie, or that dinosaurs and humans lived together or that the Earth is only 10,000 yrs old. If you want to lie to them like that, teach them its 12 ft from Florida to California, its the same level of ignorance and educational abuse :)

Believing that storks bring babies is harmless too, until you want to teach it alongside verifiable science as an alternative in Sex Ed :)

Believing Elvis is still alive never hurt anyone, until you put "In Elvis We Trust" on our money, add his name to the pledge of allegiance and national anthem, and infect government and education with childish tripe :)

Theres a lot of things that dont really hurt anybody, unfortunately, religion isnt one of them.

Religious people are like a snowflake, individually, there isnt much need for concern, get them in bunches and things get messy :)

Religion is the single most divisive and destructive invention in the history of mankind.

So what if it makes people "feel" good, so does MDMA, now what? Pass out some E to everyone just because it feels good? :)

Brainwashed and delusional are Not insults, even though they work fine as insults, they are an unfortunate diagnosis for ALL RELIGIONS.

When people place more emphasis on growing up instead of being born again, then the planet is on the right track :)

Thoughts 7:32--"Thinking", if everyone did it, who would be religious? :)

Dramamine,, appreciate the true beauty of us? Who is us? The true beauty of mankind? Mankind has far more potential than a pile of DNA that cant think for itself. Mankind has far more potential than the limited brainpower expressed through religion.

Anyone can make a claim like, "The stars were made by a supernatural being that organized a human sacrifice, everyone knows that", or "the reason for life rode on a flying horse" or your five yr old thought, "There are millions of gods, everyone knows that"

Devient.genie, why do you behave like that of a five year old? Don't you know that if you speak like one then you are indeed still one? Why not appreciate and learn to know the true beauty of us? Be fascinated for who we really are and our meaning! I do not understand why you treat people so badly.

Yes, we grew up and grew Wise!
Wisdom and the essence of the universe tell us that religion is purely a product of human desire to be narcissistic.
Nearly all religions are about exalting humans to a level of being divine, though mostly males, since not only are most religions catering for human narcissism, they are also catering for misogynistic males.
Rational thinking and great wisdom from the study of life and the universe, confirms that gods are purely the product of this need for narcissism in humanity. The need to be nurtured and feel exalted.
All scriptures pander to this inner desire.
When it comes to the Bible, it suffers too many flaws, inaccuracies and scientific stupidity to ever really be a book dictated by an omniscient god.
This site demonstrates this adequately: http://bibviz.com...
I noted this in my second complete reading of it, which is why I felt ashamed of myself for even bothering to read it in the first place, it and studying theology were a complete waste of a couple of years of my life.
This is why I incinerated all my copies, except for the nice strong gold embossed leather covers, which now adorn my Scientific text books (bibles).
Though it was funny one day when some Morons/Mormons came visiting and half way through an argument, decided to grab what they thought was my big Bible of the shelf to show me a section to prove their point. Only to find a section on designing passive waveguides for microwave reception.
The look on their faces was PRICELESS! LOL! :-D~

Do you think that's what the atheists who were burn by people who thought to be more powerful than the God they claimed to worship would want? To do to their stoker's sons the same those stokers did to them? Sincerely, for every Word of hate, your cause lows its level. The religious cause isn't so much pure, but we realised our mistakes and we are sorry. We grew up, and we hope you do the same. Peace, MigMau

Might i just add, before I ignore the rest of this retarded conversation, that Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny were all made up WITH knowledge that they weren't real. From the moment the first human uttered their name, they knew that none of those were actually existent.

BTW: I 4got 2 mention: Many of those had been preaching Gospel for 25+ years.
One I just met online has his Bachelor of Theology, and had been preaching for 46 years.
One night he started questioning his own concept of God, Heaven and Hell, picked up his Bible and after a few hours finally realized it was all so irrational and simply never made any real sense. That night he became an Atheist. He's never looked back.
Yes, he became a Rational person.
His RQ soured and destroyed his Religious Beliefs.
You can improve your own RQ, by getting a Great Education.
IQ is hereditary, so if yours isn't up to scratch, tough titties :-D
Though, when it comes to real intelligence, RQ is far more important than IQ.
This is why religious people are usually less intelligent than Atheists.
Their RQ is diminished by their superstitious belief system.

So True devient: "If the religious would be able to comprehend one simple fact, it would create a mass increase in atheists".

If Christians read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelations with an open, inquiring, rational mind, they too would be Atheists.

There are now a lot of ex ministers/priests who after having struck a niggling question and decided to research the Bible for an answer, only to find the Bible really has no Rational answers, those clergy are themselves now Atheists. Many have needed the services of "The Clergy Project" to get themselves back to reality.
They ditched their Theological training and God, to become Atheists.
Atheism never tried to persuade any of them.
They were all driven to Atheism by their silly, ignorant, irrational, out-of-date Bibles.
Aye M8!
Just like I while studying Theology. The Bible made me an Atheist.http://bibviz.com...

Reasons for voting decision: Con never replied to the resolution. He literally spent the whole time making serious attacks against anyone who isn't Atheist. He used nothing but fallacies and Ad Hom to defend absolutely nothing.

Reasons for voting decision: Con completely ignored the resolution, so arguments go to Pro. Con used a lot of ad homs, so conduct goes to Pro as well. Con, it's okay to think that Pro's beliefs are stupid, but keep that opinion to yourself in a debate, or at least learn to phrase it in another way. Also, pay attention to the resolution.

You are not eligible to vote on this debate

This debate has been configured to only allow voters who meet the requirements set by the debaters. This debate either has an Elo score requirement or is to be voted on by a select panel of judges.